BEETHOVEN AND THE CONCERTO
When Beethoven visited Vienna as
a teenager in the late 1780s he had
no doubts about the composer with
whom he intended to study. Mozart, the
greatest keyboard virtuoso of the period,
was an obvious choice for Beethoven
given his own formidable powers
as a pianist. Mozart was evidently
impressed by Beethovenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s playing but
did not think it better than that of his
pupil Hummel who was several years
younger. It was only after Beethoven
begged to be allowed to improvise on
a theme of Mozartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own devising that
he was finally accepted as a pupil. In
the event Beethoven did not study with
Mozart. His mother fell seriously ill and
he returned to Bonn in short order. By
the time circumstances allowed him
to return to Vienna Mozart was dead
and Beethoven undertook instead to
study with Haydn. Ironically, Haydn, the
teacher of second choice, proved to be
a far richer source of musical inspiration
than Mozart. In one instrumental genre,

however, Mozart stood supreme: the
concerto.
Many composers had written
keyboard concertos before Mozart.
Among the works that exerted the
greatest influence on the young Mozart
were the concertos of Johann Christian
Bach whom he met in London as a child.
The polished, elegant style and easy
Italianate lyricism of the music of Bach
assumed a central place in Mozartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
musical thinking for many years, and
to them, as he matured as an artist,
he added intellectual complexity and
technical virtuosity. In a sense there are
no direct precursors to the Mozart piano
concertos: other works exist, many of
them attractive and well-written, but
none give the barest hint of what Mozart
was to achieve in the space of several
concert seasons. How well these works
were known outside of Vienna is difficult
to assess. But one can be sure that
these extraordinary works came as a
revelation to Beethoven, far more so

than even the greatest symphonies and
quartets of Haydn, for Beethoven too
was a virtuoso and perhaps better than
most could appreciate Mozart’s gigantic
achievement.
With Mozart dead, Beethoven
sought to establish himself as quickly
as possible as the foremost keyboard
virtuoso in Vienna. His playing
astonished and delighted the lucky few
who heard it and his improvisations in
particular gained him great fame. All
the while he was honing his skills as
a composer in preparation to assault
the three great musical fortresses of
Viennese classicism: the symphony, the
concerto and the string quartet.
The concerto provided the ideal
public platform for Beethoven. It allowed
him to demonstrate his prowess both
as a performer and composer and
fulfil Count Waldstein’s prediction
that he would ‘receive Mozart’s spirit
from Haydn’s hands’. Beethoven’s
compositional style underwent a
massive transformation during the years
that separate the B flat concerto and the

‘Emperor’ and this change is reflected in
the works themselves. The early works
draw on Mozart’s concertos for their
formal models and to an extent their
musical inspiration. The fourth and fifth
concertos, however, have their origins in
the great Middle Period symphonies and
for that reason an almost inconceivable
stylistic gulf separates the early
concertos from the late works.
That the concertos – like the sonatas
– are the music Beethoven wrote
for himself makes them particularly
revealing, the more so since they
represent the most public face of
Beethoven the performer. It is hardly
surprising that no concertos followed
the ‘Emperor’, even though sketches for
a sixth piano concerto survive. When
Beethoven came to the realisation that
his deafness made it impossible for him
to perform in public any longer he seems
to have lost heart and abandoned the
genre forever.

PIANO CONCERTO NO.1 IN C, OP.15
PIANO CONCERTO NO.2 IN B FLAT, OP.19
It was as a pianist and not as a composer
that Beethoven first made an impression on the
worldly and musically sophisticated Viennese.
Arriving in the imperial capital less than a year
after Mozart’s death Beethoven launched a
determined campaign to establish himself as
quickly as possible as the great man’s most
obvious successor. Like Mozart before him
Beethoven derived most of his income from
playing and teaching during these critical years
and viewed the composition of concertos for his
own use as an important artistic and financial
priority.
Beethoven’s first appearances in Vienna as a
pianist were all private affairs held in the houses
of the nobility. Interestingly enough, he delayed
his public debut until 29 March 1795 when he
appeared as the soloist in his own B flat Concerto
at a concert at the Burgtheater. The Wiener
Zeitung recorded that ‘the celebrated Herr Ludwig
van Beethoven reaped the unanimous applause
W. A. Sutton (1917-2000), Hills and Plains Waikari,
1956, oil on board, 835 x 1135 mm. Collection of
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu.

of the audience for his performance...’.
The successful premiere of the B flat

concerto, the composer turned his attention
to the score for the last time. In the course

concerto not only provided Beethoven

of twenty years or more the B flat concerto

with an opportunity to publicly display his

shed a slow movement, gained a new

formidable powers as a performer but also

Finale and a very fine cadenza.

to demonstrate his growing confidence as
a composer.
The rather complex chronology of the
first two concertos tells us a great deal

The true significance of Beethoven’s
continual revision of the B flat concerto is
not that he felt an underlying dissatisfaction
with the work but rather realized that for all

about Beethoven’s ambitions and attitudes

its inherent weaknesses it contained much

during the mid-1790s. Although it has long

that was good.

been recognized that the work known
as the ‘second’ concerto was completed

By way of comparison, the composition
of the C major concerto was relatively

before the first, it is not generally well

straightforward. It was written in

known that this earlier concerto occupied

1795, performed shortly thereafter and

the composer’s attention longer than any

revised in 1800 prior to performance at

other of his works.

Beethoven’s famous April Academy. If the

The first draft of the B flat concerto
appears to have been underway as early

B flat concerto was the work of a pianist
attempting to follow in the footsteps of

as 1787, three years after the completion

Mozart before he was technically equipped

of a concerto in E flat for fortepiano and

to do so, its successor clearly demonstrates

small orchestra (WoO4). It then underwent

the hallmarks of an experienced and highly

several radical revisions during the 1790s

accomplished composer.

culminating in a major rewrite in 1798.

In terms of overall structure and

A further three years elapsed before

musical style, both of Beethoven’s first two

Beethoven reluctantly offered the work for

concertos follow the Viotti-Mozart model

publication (for half his usual fee) and in

very closely with their three-movement

1809, the year he completed the ‘Emperor’

cycle (martial­– elegant–boisterous) while

the power and intellectual complexity of the

gift for writing very slow, concentrated

works reveals a characteristic seriousness

movements of immense beauty while the

of purpose.
While the two concertos are dissimilar
in many respects, they share a number
of common and important stylistic traits.
Both first movements show considerable

most remarkable movement in the C major
concerto is the grave and rather seductive
Largo cast in the unusual key of A-flat major.
The unprecedented dynamism of nearly
all Beethoven’s music is immediately

ingenuity and technical resource in

apparent in the finale of the B flat concerto.

the way in which thematic material

The extant sketches show this element

is developed and shared between the

to have been important from the outset

soloist and the orchestra, the hallmark

although Beethoven had considerable

of Mozart’s mature concerto style. Both

difficulty in deciding how best to notate the

first movements introduce the soloist

rhythm. The C major concerto finale also

with a new theme rather than with a bald

owes much of its power to the aggressive

restatement of the opening thematic

orchestration, which looks back to Haydn’s

material. Characteristically, Beethoven

recent Symphony No.97 in C and forward to

never sacrifices the musical integrity of the

Beethoven’s own Symphony No.1.

work in order to increase the prominence

Beethoven enjoyed great success as

and difficulty of the solo part. This is most

a performer with both of these concertos,

evident in the central solos of both first

delaying their publication until he felt

movements, where the piano participates

they were beginning to lose their novelty.

in the extension and development of

Although Beethoven ceased performing his

existing material rather than creating new

first two concertos in the early years of the

opportunities for flashy display.

19th century his decision to write cadenzas

The slow movements also have
much in common. The contemplative
Adagio in the B flat concerto is one of the
earliest manifestations of Beethoven’s

for the works in 1809 shows that he did not
altogether lose interest in them.

DIEDRE IRONS
Diedre Irons was born in Winnipeg,
Canada. A child prodigy, she made her
first solo appearance with the Winnipeg
Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve
playing the Schumann Piano Concerto.
After graduating from the Curtis Institute
of Music in Philadelphia, she was invited
by her teacher, Rudolf Serkin, to join the
faculty of that prestigious conservatory.
She taught there for the next seven years,
at the same time touring extensively in
Canada and the United States both as a
soloist and as a chamber music player.
Irons moved to New Zealand in 1977
and has since become a vital part of the
New Zealand music scene, performing
frequently with the New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra, the Auckland

Philharmonia and the Christchurch
Symphony. She has toured many times
under the auspices of Chamber Music
New Zealand, and recorded extensively
for Radio New Zealand. She continues to
travel internationally, having, to date,
performed concerts in 25 countries.
In 2003, as well as the cycle of
Beethoven piano concertos with the
Christchurch Symphony, she has
performed with the New Zealand String
Quartet, and will undertake a Chamber
Music New Zealand tour with the
Canterbury Trio.
Diedre Irons was awarded an MBE for
services to music in 1989. She is Senior
Lecturer in Piano at the University of
Canterbury, New Zealand.
DiedreIrons Piano Recital
M ozartSchumann Ravel Gershwin Chopin

Century Classics Ensemble, which has
presented the New Zealand premieres of
many 20th century masterpieces, Taddei
is also an advocate of contemporary New
Zealand composers.
Also available from
Trust Records featuring

MARC TADDEI
Marc Taddei is the Music Director of
the Christchurch Symphony, Associate
Conductor of the Auckland Philharmonia,
and Music Director of New Zealand’s
premier modern music group, the 20th
Century Classics Ensemble. He holds
the positions of Head of Orchestral
Repertoire Studies and Artist Teacher
of Conducting at Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand.
Taddei has conducted in Europe
and North America, and is a frequent
guest conductor with every professional
orchestra in New Zealand. He is noted for
his interpretations of the Germanic and
late-Romantic repertoire and is a keen
advocate of the Second Viennese School.
In addition to his work with the 20th

THE CHRISTCHURCH SYMPHONY
Recently described by conductor Sir
William Southgate as ‘...a minor miracle
which boxes way above its weight’, the
Christchurch Symphony is one of New
Zealand’s small number of professional
orchestras and is a vital part of a vibrant
artistic scene in Christchurch. Founded
almost 30 years ago, it has built up a
core of over 30 professional players,
which it augments when required with
other talented players in the Christchurch
region.
Under Music Director Marc Taddei
the orchestra has embarked on a strategy
of expanding its range and versatility.
Its annual programmes span the ages
and styles from the Baroque to the
great Bruckner and Mahler symphonies.
Its ‘pop’ programme features top New
Zealand and overseas artists such as Bic
Runga and Midge Marsden. Marsden’s
performance of the late William Russo’s
Three Pieces for Blues Band, was both
a new direction for the orchestra and

enthusiastically received by audience and
critics alike.
Its programmes have included works
by New Zealand composers Douglas
Lilburn, Gareth Farr and Chris Cree Brown
and Ewen Clarke. The Christchurch
Symphony also tours to South Island
centres and is regularly engaged by,
amongst others, Canterbury Opera, the
Christchurch City Choir and the Royal
New Zealand Ballet.
The Christchurch Symphony has
released two previous recordings, Live
at the Proms and the much acclaimed
Landmarks, a compilation from the
orchestra’s repertoire.
AMI Insurance is Christchurch
Symphony’s principal sponsor and
its generous assistance enabled the
orchestra to participate in this recording.

Rita Angus (1908-1970)
Rita Angus was born in Hastings and
studied at the Canterbury College School
of Art from 1927 to 1933. In the 1930s she
exhibited at the Canterbury Society of Arts
and with ‘The Group’ (ex-students from the
Society who set up their own exhibitions,
while working as a graphic artist. She
painted extensively in Otago, Canterbury,
and later Hawkes Bay and Wellington. Her
work in the 1930s and 40s, the period in
which Cass was painted, has often been
described as ‘regionalist’ in its apparent
celebration of a specific time and locality.
In 1954 she bought a cottage in Thorndon,
Wellington where she lived and worked until
her death in 1970.
During the 1930s Rita Angus made
a number of sketching trips into the
Canterbury high country with friends and
fellow artists such as Louise Henderson.
Cass captures the isolation of a tiny
settlement in the Southern Alps with its
small railway station, populated by a single
waiting figure, set against dominating
landforms. Angus used a distinctive style of
realism, with clearly defined shapes, blocks
of strong colour and a clear, pervading light.
She was searching for ways to combine
her own experience of the area and the

essential nature of the region. The colours
are seen as typical of the Canterbury School
of artists. The painting has become an icon
of New Zealand art.

William Alexander (Bill)
Sutton (1917-2000)
Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, W.A.
Sutton was educated at Christchurch
Boys High School and at the University of
Canterbury College of Art (1934-1938).
During the course of his career he received
many awards and fellowships, including the
Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship in 1973 and
the Governor General’s Award in 1984. He
was awarded the CBE in 1980.
Sutton’s contribution to New Zealand’s
art history was his development of the
landscape through his depiction of the
Canterbury region over almost six decades.
Using both oils and watercolour, his style
changed over the years from a realist to
an abstract approach. He began to seek
the essence of the landscape, paring back
the visual components to angle and form,
emphasising structure and composition.
Through his study of the unique patterns of
the sky, the shapes, textures and forms of
the land in Canterbury, he gave the region
an identity unparalleled in New Zealand art.

The HRL Morrison Music Trust was
established in March 1995 as a charitable
trust to support New Zealand musicians
of international calibre. All funds received
by the Trust are used to make recordings,
present concerts – both in New Zealand and
overseas – and assist artists to undertake
projects to further develop their talents.
More information about other releases by
the HRL Morrison Music Trust can be found
at the internet site:
www.trustcds.com
All rights of the producer and of the owner
of the work reproduced are reserved.
Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending,
public performance and broadcasting of this
recording is prohibited.

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 &2

One of New Zealand's favourite pianists gives a compelling account of Beethoven's first two piano concertos, in a live recording with the Christchurch Symphony. The first two concertos showcases Beethoven's unprecedented dynamism like much of his early music. Beethoven first performed these concertos and used them as a vehicle for launching his career. The featured soloist in this series is celebrated Canadian-born pianist Diedre Irons.